AURORA | This time, Gary Childress made his final coaching stop. He’s sure of it.
Three years after he stepped down from his longtime position at Grandview boys basketball coach and unexpectedly returned to the bench shortly when the post opened at Vista PEAK Prep, Childress has taken coached his last game.
Childress informed Vista PEAK Prep athletic director Mike Hughes of his decision on Friday — just a week after he coached in the A-Town All-Star Game and a few weeks after his Bison lost in the Class 4A Sweet 16 to cap a 20-5 season that also included a milestone for Childress, who got his 500th career coaching victory.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am that I didn’t stay retired the first time from Grandview; I didn’t say it was retirement then, just waiting and seeing,” Childress told the Sentinel.
“I thought I was wanting to be done then, but I really enjoyed the last three years and Visat PEAK has been so great to me. It’s been a huge pleasure to be out there the last three years. It’s been the cherry atop the career and I really feel fortunate.”
According to Colorado High School Activities Association records, Childress is only the 11th coach in Colorado prep history to win 500 games and his final total of 512 (against 319 losses) ranks ninth all-time. He posted a winning record in 27 of his 37 seasons on the bench.
Next season, Aurora will be without two of its longtime coaching fixtures in Childress and Eaglecrest’s John Olander, who stepped down after his Raptors won the 5A state championship.
Childress capped a coaching career that stretched all the way back to his start with Limon in the 1979-80 season. With the Bison, Childress won 18, 19 and 20 games and led the program to the Class 4A Sweet 16 in each of the past two seasons.
That chapter came after he spent 16 seasons as the original coach at Grandview, where he went 216-165 and led the Wolves to the 5A Final Four three times.
“Grandview was without a doubt my dream job, the job I worked all along to be able to get and I loved every minute of it,” Childress said. “Then I thought I was ready to be done, but I remember the joy I felt when Vista PEAK offered the job. I decided I wasn’t ready to be done and I’m thankful to have it go as well as it did. I really think Vista PEAK’s upside is huge.”
Childress said he “checked his oil” as far as how he felt during the season and recently decided it would be best to join his wife Patty in retirement. Patty Childress stepped down as Grandview’s volleyball coach in 2015 after posting a 493-169 with Class 5A state championship victories in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2013 and 2014.
Travel is on the agenda for the retirement of the Childresses, who are headed to the NCAA Final Four in Phoenix.
Gary Childress said he would miss the camaraderie with other coaches, going to clinics and learning new strategies that he could use in his various programs and the optimism of looking forward to the next season and how it might play out.
All those things weighed against the increasing demands of running a program at a high level convinced Childress that it was time to call it a career.
“The fun of looking at the roster and what young kids surprised you and how you would put together the team for the next year, that’s always the most exciting part,” Childress said. “That’s the romantic part. Then there is the hours and hours part and the hard work part you forget about.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
GARY CHILDRESS’ COACHING RECORD
1979-80: Limon – 19-5 (State tournament consolation championship); 1980-81: Limon – 20-4 (State tournament 3rd place); 1981-82: Yuma – 8-9; 1982-83: Yuma – 10-9; 1983-84: Yuma – 13-8; 1984-85: Yuma – 17-7 (State tournament Great 8); 1985-86: Yuma – 17-5; 1986-87: Yuma – 17-3; 1987-88: Yuma – 12-8; 1988-89: Yuma – 15-5; 1989-90: Yuma – 23-1 (State tournament Final Four); 1990-91: Ferndale, Wash. – 13-9; 1991-92: Palisade – 8-11; 1992-93: Palisade – 11-10; 1993-94: Palisade – 9-11; 1994-95: Palisade – 9-11; 1995-96: Palisade – 13-7; 1996-97: Ferndale, Wash. – 6-14; 1997-98: Assistant at Mesa St. College; 1998-99: Grandview – 10-11; 1999-2000: Grandview – 12-9; 2000-01: Grandview – 6-14; 2001-02: Grandview – 12-9; 2002-03: Grandview – 19-5 (State tournament Final Four); 2003-04: Grandview – 6-14; 2004-05: Grandview – 18-9 (State tournament Final Four); 2005-06: Grandview – 20-7 (State tournament Final Four); 2006-07: Grandview – 14-10; 2007-08: Grandview – 13-12; 2008-09: Grandview – 11-14; 2009-2010: Grandview – 16-10 (State tournament Great 8); 2010-11: Grandview – 11-14; 2011-12: Grandview – 16-9 (State tournament Sweet 16); 2012-13: Grandview – 16-8; 2013-14: Grandview – 15-10 (State tournament Sweet 16); 2014-15: Vista PEAK — 18-6; 2015-16: Vista PEAK — 19-6 (State tournament Sweet 16); 2016-17: Vista PEAK — 20-5 (State tournament Sweet 16); Total: 512-319
